,i  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fdgg  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,january #be1        
#bjbb,ms4 ,dean introduced the following
 bill2 which was referred to the        
,committee on ,natural ,resources1 and  
in addition to the ,committee on        
,financial ,services1 for a period to be
 subsequently determined by the         
,speaker1 in each case for consideration
 of such provisions as fall within the  
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to require the ,secretary of
 the ,treasury and the ,secretary of the
 ,interior to carry out a study with    
respect to wildlife trafficking         
financing and proceeds1 and for other   
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,combating ,wildlife
 ,trafficking ,financing and ,proceeds  
,study ,act4  #b4 ,findings ,congress   
finds the following3 7#a7 ,the #bjag    
report by the think tank1 ,global       
,financial ,integrity1 entitled         
,transnational ,crime and the           

,developing ,world1 determined that the 
annual global retail value of illegal   
wildlife trade is between #e billion to 
#bc billion1 and when losses to         
ecosystem services are considered1 the  
,world ,bank estimates the cost of      
environmental crime is between #a       
trillion and #b trillion1 annually4     
7#b7 ,wildlife traffickers do not prefer
 particular species or commodities1 but 
instead1 according to the               
non-governmental organization1 ,united  
for ,wildlife1 wildlife traffickers     
focus on the demand1 availability1      
profit potential1 and relatively low    
risk associated with acquiring1 trading1
 and distributing wildlife globally4    
7#c7 ,the trafficking of wildlife       
affects human health because of         
undetected spread of zoonotic diseases1 
scarcity in food resources1 and the     
environmental results of degraded       
ecosystems4  7#d7 ,also1 the trafficking
 of illicit wildlife such as pangolins  
from ,africa1 macaws from ,peru1 turtles

 from the ,united ,states1 and rosewood 
species smuggled globally threatens our 
national security at home and ,american 
interests abroad because rogue          
organizations1 including transnational  
criminal organizations1 use the proceeds
 to fund illegal and violent acts       
throughout the world1 fueling corruption
 and benefiting from corrupt government 
officials1 weakening the rule of law1   
and distorting commercial markets4  7#e7
 ,many of these supply chains are       
affected by ,chinese activity1 from the 
criminal organizations involved in the  
initial poaching of targeted commodities
 to the demand for goods produced from  
endangered plants and animals4  7#f7    
,the ,organized ,crime ,drug            
,enforcement ,task ,forces conducted an 
investigation known as ,operation ,apex 
which identified extensive overlaps     
among drug trafficking organizations1   
professional money launderers1 and      
wildlife trafficking syndicates4  7#g7  
,a study conducted by ,federal entities 

that examined wildlife trafficking      
networks determined that-- 7,a7 more    
than two-thirds of persons trafficking  
wildlife also trafficked narcotics2     
7,b7 #aj percent of persons trafficking 
wildlife were doing so to finance       
terrorism2 and  7,c7 a small percentage 
of persons trafficking wildlife were    
doing so to finance the proliferation of
 nuclear materials4  7#h7 ,because      
wildlife trafficking is executed as part
 of a commodity-agnostic global         
enterprise1 the ,united ,states and     
allies of the ,united ,states should    
focus efforts to reduce wildlife        
trafficking on curtailing the expansive 
networks that traffic wildlife and other
 goods and on bringing enforcement      
actions against persons who launder the 
proceeds of those persons who traffic   
wildlife rather than pursue specific    
nations1 groups1 or commodities4  7#i7  
,in the past decade1 the illicit        
wildlife trade has moved online1 mainly 
to social media platforms1 creating     

jurisdictional and technical challenges 
for law enforcement4  #c4 ,study  7a7   
,in general ,the ,secretary of the      
,treasury and the ,secretary of the     
,interior1 acting through the ,u4,s4    
,fish and ,wildlife ,service1 shall     
jointly1 not later than #b years after  
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
conduct a study with respect to wildlife
 trafficking financing and proceeds and 
submit a report on such study to-- 7#a7 
the ,committees on ,financial ,services 
and ,natural ,resources of the ,house of
 ,representatives2 and  7#b7 the        
,committees on ,banking1 ,housing1 and  
,urban ,affairs and ,energy and ,natural
 ,resources of the ,senate4  7b7        
,consultation ,in conducting the study  
required under subsection 7a71 the      
,secretary of the ,treasury and the     
,secretary of the ,interior shall       
consult with such other ,federal        
officials as the ,secretaries determine 
appropriate1 including the ,secretary of
 ,state1 the ,director of ,national     

,intelligence1 the ,director of         
,homeland ,security ,investigations1 the
 ,attorney ,general1 and the ,secretary 
of ,defense4  7c7 ,input ,in conducting 
the study required under subsection 7a71
 the ,secretary of the ,treasury and the
 ,secretary of the ,interior shall      
solicit and incorporate1 where possible 
and as determined appropriate by the    
,secretaries1 input from-- 7#a7         
domestic1 foreign1 and multilateral law 
enforcement organizations1  7#b7 the    
intelligence community2  7#c7 wildlife  
advocates2  7#d7 experts in             
transnational organized crime1          
cyber-crime1 and illicit finance2 and   
7#e7 nongovernmental organizations1     
academia1 foundations1 and other public 
and private entities4  7d7 ,contents of 
report ,the report required under       
subsection 7a7 shall include-- 7#a7 an  
overview of the criminal and complicit  
actors1 including individuals1          
organizations1 corrupt networks1 and    
nations1 that participate in wildlife   

trafficking from source to market1 both 
proactively and permissively4  7#b7 an  
overview of the types of wildlife       
trafficked1 for what purposes1 and from 
where2  7#c7 an overview of the roles of
 professional money launderers1         
corporate and trust formation agents1   
kleptocrats1 and other supply chain and 
financial facilitators with respect to  
wildlife trafficking2  7#d7 a           
discussion1 based on a consideration of 
relevant prior studies and              
investigations1 of the convergence of   
wildlife trafficking with other types of
 trafficking1 including trafficking in  
persons1 timber trafficking1 and        
narcotics trafficking1 including shared 
supply chains and financial             
facilitators2  7#e7 an overview of the  
national security implications          
associated with wildlife trafficking and
 the financing and proceeds of wildlife 
trafficking1 including-- 7,a7 potential 
threats to security1 including          
corruption and ,state instability       

resulting from wildlife trafficking2 and
  7,b7 potential threats to public      
health1 including global pandemic and   
ecosystem collapse2  7#f7 an examination
 of how anti-corruption activities might
 be leveraged with respect to mitigating
 the ways in which corrupt officials and
 politically exposed persons enable and 
engage in wildlife trafficking financing
 and proceeds2  7#g7 an examination of  
payments methods used to facilitate the 
trafficking of wildlife1 including its  
financing and proceeds2  7#h7 an        
examination of how online platforms are 
used to facilitate trafficking and      
trafficking-related payments that-- 7,a7
 describes the extent to which illicit  
wildlife trade occurs online1 including 
through social media platforms1         
ecommerce sites1 and encrypted messaging
 and other surface web platforms2  7,b7 
identifies payments- and                
proceeds-related reasons that different 
online platforms may be chosen by       
persons trafficking in wildlife2 and    

7,c7 identifies online platforms that   
are used most for transactions and      
payments involving trafficking in       
wildlife2  7#i7 an examination of       
private-sector best practices for       
combating wildlife trafficking financing
 and proceeds 7including those found in 
the financial services industry71 as    
well as any practices that have not had 
success combating wildlife trafficking  
financing and proceeds2  7#aj7 a        
discussion of ways in which existing    
laws1 multilateral agreements1 and      
forums could be expanded or modified to 
combat wildlife trafficking financing   
and disrupt its proceeds2  7#aa7 an     
identification of tools of international
 and national engagement1 including     
partnerships with private sector and    
international financial institutions1   
that could be coordinated to combat     
wildlife trafficking financing and      
disrupt its proceeds2  7#ab7            
recommendations about ways in which     
interdisciplinary collaboration across  

,federal agencies could be incentivized 
to maximize information and analysis    
from investigations into other types of 
trafficking and which may benefit from  
the information and analysis gleaned    
from wildlife trafficking               
investigations2  7#ac7 an examination of
 how data collection1 collaboration1    
analysis1 and technology tools1         
including artificial intelligence and   
machine learning might be leveraged to  
combat wildlife trafficking and its     
proceeds2  7#ad7 a recommendation of    
whether ,congress should renew the      
wildlife trafficking task force         
authorized in the ,,end ,act and        
sunsetting in ,december #bjba2 and      
7#ae7 an examination of how             
anti-corruption activities and practices
 could be included in existing ,federal 
and international wildlife trafficking  
prevention and enforcement efforts4  7e7
 ,classification of report ,the report  
required under subsection 7a7 may be    
submitted in classified form but shall  

have an unclassified annex or executive 
summary4